Interact Model One

I recently acquired an Interact Model One computer. It's a relatively small unit with calculator-style keys and a built in cassette deck for data storage. Inside, there is an 8080 CPU and 16 Kbytes of RAM. The latest date codes on the components place its manufacture in early 1978. Video output is color NTSC, and there is a built-in RF modulator for driving a television. The rather large pixels yield a 16 x 12 text display. The ROM seems to contain only enough code to start the process of loading programs from tape. Fortunately, I picked up two different BASIC variants (EDU-BASIC, which is a usable "tiny" BASIC, and Level II Microsoft BASIC.), as well as about a dozen games on tape. The 20-year old cassette tapes I obtained with this machine are starting to deteriorate. Unfortunately, copies made using relatively high-quality audio cassette decks do not load. The head on the internal cassette deck is a standard 1/2 track mono head, so copying the tapes should not be difficult. Does anyone know if Interact produced their cassettes slightly off "standard" alignment as a form of copy protection? I'm currently planning to use one of the prerecorded Interact cassettes to set the azimuth adjustment on an old cassette deck, and then use this deck for both playback and recording to make working copies of the Interact tapes if this is the case. If not, I'll record copies on a properly aligned deck and then adjust the Interact to read the copies. -- Scott Ware NUMS-MPBC Macromolecular Crystallography Resource 303 East Chicago Avenue, Ward 8-264, Chicago, IL 60611 (312)503-0813 Finger ware(a)xtal.pharm.nwu.edu for PGP public key